Editor's Choice: Dec. 14, 2005

Although the Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust Duke Realty Corp. plans to pull out of the Northeast Ohio market, the REIT certainly isnt turning its back on Columbus.
According to this article by Business First of Columbus, Duke is a partner in a planned transportation hub, to be known as the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park, near Rickenbacker International Airport.
Also involved in the project are Capital Square Ltd., the development of arm of Dispatch Printing Co., which prints the Columbus Dispatch, and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, according to the article. Together, they have announced plans to develop a 1,200-acre industrial park near the airport. They also have begun building their first property, a speculative, 572,000-square-foot industrial structure.
According to the article, The site is intended to link with Rickenbacker, a regional cargo airport, and a intermodal yard Norfolk Southern Corp. plans to build next year. The intermodal yard will allow cargo to be transferred between planes, trains and trucks.
Crazy, insane man from Cleveland
The city of Dallas celebrated earlier this week the start of the redevelopment of its downtown Mercantile Bank complex, a project undertaken by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc., according to this article.
During a ceremony to relight the Mercantile Bank buildings clock tower, which had been dark for nearly two decades, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller tipped her hat to David Levey, the executive vice president of Forest City, for participating in the retail and housing project.
It's remarkable to me looking at that building, and being able to save it, Ms. Miller said. We're about to get a lot of people back on the streets. For that, she said, thank a crazy, insane man from Cleveland.
The article notes that Dallas is giving Forest City about $70 million in public incentives to redevelop the Mercantile complex and convert nearby buildings into apartments and condominiums.
Automaker blues continueThis article from Forbes offers yet another problem for Detroits automakers: Some of their best dealers are throwing in the towel.
According to the article, The domestic carmakers have plenty of problems these days. Now you can add dealer defections, a trend that if sustained could make it even harder for General Motors and Ford Motor to bounce back. Lately, amid seismic shifts toward imports in U.S. market share, those once sturdy networks of loyal dealers have shown signs of splintering.
The article notes that many car dealers own multiple franchises of different brands. In addition, dealers are putting more money into brands  mostly imports  that offer better returns. The dealers will sell what sells, said Sheldon Sandler, a financial consultant and broker who specializes in car dealerships.
The article continues, The carmakers insist they've got plenty of entrepreneurs lined up to take over open franchises. For every dealership that becomes available, I've got five dealers standing in the wings ready to take it over, says Joseph Chrzanowski, GM's executive director of dealer network planning and investments.
Still, the danger for the Big Three is that the best dealers  the most talented entrepreneurs  will leave them, along with the best salespeople. A salesperson goes where the commissions are best, and those aren't on a Ford Explorer or a Chevy Silverado that can be unloaded only with rebates and haggling. Better to be selling Toyota Priuses, which leave the lot at a price above the sticker.
Diebold ink
Type Diebold into a search engine today, and youre going to have plenty to read after the companys CEO, Walden ODell, announced earlier this week that hes leaving the company.
Motley Fool columnist Stephen D. Simpson offers up his perspective in this piece, which isnt very flattering to Mr. ODell.
Sometimes the market can sum things up quite succinctly. Want to know its opinion on Diebold's former leader Walden W. O'Dell? Well, the stock is up almost 6% on the news that the developer of ATMs, security products, and election systems canned O'Dell as CEO and replaced him by promoting the president and chief operating officer, Mr. Simpson writes.
Loyal Fool readers may recall some of my prior hammerings of this company. Under O'Dell, this company was a model of earnings misses, so-called one time charges, and a host of it's not our fault excuses. In other words, it was a perfect example of what not to be.
And let's not forget a little controversy around the 2004 election, when the ex-CEO pledged to help Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President next year. Not exactly what you want to hear from the CEO of a company that makes touch-screen voting machines.
Is it fair to lay that all on one man? Of course not. But when you sit in the big chair, you have to be ready to take the blame as well as the credit. While I'm sure you can point to successes in O'Dell's tenure at the top, including a doubling of the stock price, I would like to think that the board realized that there was a point where excuses had to give way to performance.
Mr. Simpson concludes, The other good news here is that this is actually a company with some very real potential. Despite the screwups, flubs, and gaffes, Diebold is a good business with some righteous cash flow. Even if it merely avoids deepening the mess it's in, this could be the beginning of an interesting turnaround story.
Nicely said.
 Jeff Stacklin edits Crains Cleveland Business: On The Web.